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Does having good neighbours really matter?

Natalie Bochenski

Queensland researchers believe the folks next door could hold the key to survival and recovery in times of natural disasters.

The academic term is “community resilience” – but you could just say it’s about being good neighbours.

"There's been a real sense among emergency services providers and governments that there’s only so much they can do," said Lynda Cheshire, an associate professor of sociology from the University of Queensland’s School of Science.

"There’s now an increasing push to get people to be self-reliant in the immediate aftermath of an emergency, in the off-chance that nothing else is getting through."

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Associate Professor Cheshire is leading a study into the aftermath of the 2011 floods, focusing initially on the Ipswich suburb of North Booval.

"Get to know your neighbour" is already an oft-repeated mantra of emergency services and not-for-profit charities, and the UQ team wants to determine why.

"The research is focused on what role neighbours can play, how that is affected by broader relationships unrelated to any stressful event, and what expectation governments and emergency services can have of neighbours," said Associate Professor Cheshire.

She said they’ve conducted interviews with 17 participants who responded to a letterbox drop, but with a high proportion of renters in North Booval, many have simply moved away.

"We really keen to get a much broader scope of participants than we’ve got so far," she said.

Federal member for Blair Shayne Neumann said the impact on homes in that locality was devastating.

"In the year afterwards we noticed the electoral roll was lower in that area," he said.

"People moved to other parts of Ipswich, to Brisbane, to country Queensland, places where they wouldn’t be the victim of floods again."

But Mr Neumann has backed UQ’s calls for those who have moved on to share their experiences.

"It would help in our understanding of natural disasters and the impacts on communities, on schools, on civic life, on relationships and friendships," he said.

Mr Neumann was a child during the 1974 flood, when his parents’ Ipswich home went underwater, and remembers the reality of life in its sticky aftermath.

"Margaret Thatcher once said there was no such thing as society, only families and individuals - and she was wrong," he said.

"We live in a community, and if you know your neighbours you’re more likely to feel warmer, to feel friendlier, and offer a helping hand in times of need."

Associate Professor Cheshire said the sociological term for that was "the strength of weak ties".

"Low levels of neighbourly-ness – not even seeing them everyday – can make a big difference in terms of the help people are willing to give each other."